1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns textile cleaning processes and apparatuses, useful in commercial facilities, group housing and private dwellings.
2. Prior Art
Dry cleaning processes and apparatus have been in use commercially for a considerable length of years. For the most part, commercial processes have changed/improved relatively little except for the use of less dangerous solvents. Likewise, commercial dry cleaning equipment, except for more automation, is mostly the same for the past fifty years and do that which was done previously.
Commercial dry cleaning, as is well known, is not a dry process, it is basically a waterless process, using liquid solvents, in which the soiled textiles are immersed and mixed in a rotating drum until the soil transfers from the textile into the solvent bath. An historic problem in the commercial dry cleaning equipment and process was the use of solvents which were dangerous to handle and inhale, had low flash points; and when disposed, both as liquid and vented to the atmosphere, were environmentally hazardous/unfriendly. In at least countries where health and environmental regulations are enforced, those historic problems of the solvents have been eliminated or greatly diminished by user and environment friendly solvents. However, the volume of solvent needed to immerse the textiles in the drum presents its own problems: cost, storage space, proper disposal, filtering and recycling, etc.
Quite recently, there has entered the market place kits for home-use, in home clothes dryers, for freshening and cleaning of garments which cannot be washed in water and are not so soiled that commercial dry cleaning should be used. Although such kits are convenient to use, their capability to satisfactorily remove soil is limited. Such kits have solvent impregnated, small, thin sheets which are put into the dryer drum with the soiled garments. The heat within the rotating drum releases the solvent from those sheets into the atmosphere of the drum. The tumbling garments are “immersed” in the solvent containing atmosphere for the cleaning function. The sheets also are impregnated with a pleasant fragrance substance, to impart a clean smell to the garment. Some kits also include pre-spotting solution, to be applied to selected soil spots of the garment, prior to being placed into the dryer drum. A problem with the use of such kits is that either extensive pre-spotting is needed, or the cleaning is inadequate, or both. Some kits also include a bag into which the garments and impregnated sheets are placed. The bag inhibits the garments from contact with the hot interior surface of the drum and also confines the solvent containing atmosphere.